panthers55

Given the wide receivers in our division it is Horn. Our O line gets criticized every year yet we end up middle of the pack. Whether it is Moton or Erving we will be okay this year. Would I have liked Slater? Sure but not instead of Horn who if we didn't draft him would be playing in New Orleans against us.

Seems every year we bitch about the O line yet they tend to get ranked in the middle most years. Using pff for comparison. 2020 -19th 2019- 18th 2018- 17th You see the theme. So now we are ranked 30th heading into the season. My prediction is we end up better than 30th perhaps in the high teens once again. So can we stop bitching about how awful they are. With no gameplanning they played 3 top 10 defenses and looked OK. Not good but better than all of this bitching would suggest.

I thought Darnold and the offense improved over the course of the first half. Blitzburgh brought pressure on most plays which pressured the defense and the backs. I thought they all got over their jitters and played well as a group. The line got better as well as they figured out their protections which they normally do with gameplanning. Sure we got work to do but this was a top 3 defense so their depth should have still been pretty good and their scheme stayed the same.

The line wasn't that bad given all the blitzing the steers were doing backups or not. This was a top 3 defense in 2020 so of course we struggled with no gameplanning to neutralize the blitz. But I thought the backs picked up blitzes and as the game progressed the guys started sorting things out. Were there some wiffs and misses? Did we leave points on the board? Yep. Of course we have lots of work to do but it wasn't as bad as many here are suggesting.

The Steelers were a top 3 defense so even their depth is good and they blitzed on just about every play bringing 5 and 6. I though the o line got better after the first 2 series and played well. Once the starting 5 gets settled I expect them to play middle of the pack which is all Darnold needs given what he is used to having. He had to be excited.

The Steelers pressured on every down and often brought 5 or even 6. I thought the O line did better as they worked out their protections over the first couple of series. I was actually encouraged by the fact that we faced 3 top 10 defenses and the oline got tons of work figuring things out. Once we get our starting five set I think the O line will be better than projected at 31 this year. I think middle of the pack and that would be a huge upgrade for Darnold.

I thought he did better as he got comfortable. That last drive was very good and he looked very comfortable with Robby and DJ. I thought he did a good job handling the pressure.

Actually he went up too early and then the ball went beyond his alligator arms by three feet. He said he lost it in the lights. But Newton gave him a great pass and Funchess was in single coverage. It should have been caught to erase the questional intentional grounding call. https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2018/1/7/16860412/3-mistakes-2-minutes-panthers-saints-cam-newton-devin-funchess-intentional-grounding

Fitterer addressed this in his press conference. He said signing Anderson would have no impact on signing DJ and money was allocated by position group and they had several younger guys on cheap deals and DJ is here for this year and next. I expect his deal will get done next offseason to give him more guaranteed money and lock him up for through 2025.

Not sure how much I agree with this take. We brought in a lot of free agents and so far only signed Moton and Anderson of which Moton was the only one we drafted. And both these guys were no brainers. Not saying it won't be true in the end but Fitts hasn't been here a year yet so it hard to declare a new era and strategy yet.

I wonder if Teddy will open it up a little this year or still play super conservative. If so Lock will be the starter by week 8.

I have never understood football fans hoping their team does poorly.

Trent williams

If he still gets paid it seems ideal for him. Collecting money for nothing and preserving his body at the same time.

The Jets are who David Carred him to start with. Why would we listen to them or their fans. I think we did pretty good taking Robbie off their hands and turning him around, I expect we will do the same with Darnold. When we spank em in game 1 it will be plain to everyone who got the deal and who got the shaft.

I didn't want him here anyway. I have never been a big fan if him.

Carter deserves the praise. He is a hard worker and has worked hard to get where he is. Who knows with Rhule if we bring in a middle linebacker given we are churning our roster. But the middle linebacker position seems ripe for injuries so I doubt we dump Perryman. He is relatively cheap and we can dump him next year with little consequence. He seems good enough for a roster spot if we can even get solid contribution if not starting potential.

I am interested in seeing how joint practices compare to preseason games in terms of getting the players ready. Because joint practices allow you to play the same team twice watching film in between, you can correct your mistakes and learn from them. In preseason games it is once and done and film in retrospect but you can't change your technique and come back the next day and fix it. Plus we came out flat both days initially. But we gained confidence we could play with anyone when we bounced back the following day. Would we have played as well in the game with no joint practices? Will we look better or worse against Pittsburgh without joint practices Friday night? But with 2 games 5 days apart I can see why he rested many of the starters and will play them for a half against Pittsburgh. It is preseason but I bet Tepper wants to do well against his old team. We might try and actually win this one...

I would think that he has suffered in purgatory long enough to deserve a shot with a legitimate team. Considering how little we paid for him I have been encouraged so far and have no problem easing him in instead of David Carring him at this point. Like it or not, Rhule is the boss and hopefully he knows the best way to get Darnold ready. I will keep an open mind and see what happens.

If we line up 6 or 7 guys on the line and rush different guys from different angles it doesn't matter what we call it. The Ravens run a 3-4 base but rarely only rush 3. The way we ran it last year was a prevent defense and it was a poor scheme. So before passing judgment I will wait to see how we actually use it this year. But to your point only rushing 3 and not disguising who is rushing is way too easy for the OL to pick up their blocking assignments and it results in no pressure making our secondary defend receivers forever in a zone scheme which is easily defeated by any quarterback in this league.

The good the bad and the ugly

Well enough to become the starter right away and our franchise QB by year end.

I expect Darnold to do well here. There will be bumps and dips along the way but I think he will be better than many critics expect when he gets comfortable with this offense.

Yeah and the good news is that it is home so we can see it in person. On the other hand Steeler fans come en mass from the trailer parks in SC and are really annoying and obnoxious.